WHO IS YOUR CHILD’S BEST FRIEND?

 

I rushed back home from my workplace every day to catch up with my son’s homework for the day. I always sat with him to go through the daily lessons taught in class. He was made to revise every day. The moment I reach home, my son will have so much to share about his favorite game, football, a game about which I knew nothing. Yet I would listen to him as if I was interested in the information he was giving me. I would give apt responses to whatever he said. He would continue talking even when I went into the bathroom to change! He would stand by the door and keep talking excitedly. And I would respond from inside. Whatever he was interested in talking, I would listen with an air of excitement. So, we became good friends. He would confide in me everything as I never held his honesty against him, nor did I point a finger at him on another day. This helped him to share everything with me.

 

Not that he was right all the time. I never missed to correct him or express my disapproval about some of his actions. When he became a teenager, it was quite tough as he did things the way he wanted. His grades were not as high as it could have been. I kept pushing him. That year’s PTM was in absolute contrast to all the previous years. It was a year of complaints. Not something I relished. He had scored CGPA 10 in the class 10 Board exam and was also declared the Best Scholar Cum Sports Person of the year! But he was indifferent towards studies in class eleven. But I didn’t give up on my son. I continued to love him the way I did.

 

There were ups and downs in his life, but I stood by him, prodding him, cajoling him, motivating him and also, at times, censuring him. I have had my moments of despair too. But I did not allow situations to snowball. The relationship between us has been by and large cordial, yet we have had our fair share of arguments as well. But the love and bonding was always intact. Looking back, I realize that, as teenagers, they will question us as they go through intellectual development during their early teenage. Whoever keeps talking to them or gives them that intellectual comfort, they get attached to them. It could even be their friends. But if children can find that person within the home, they will not have to go in search of anyone else in the world.

 

Choosing to be more with their friends could be the beginning of getting into the wrong direction in life. Friendship either creates them or destroys them in the process, depending on who their friends are. ”Sangam  saranam gachhami.” A man is known by the company he keeps. They have to carefully choose their friends. Else, their life will be in shambles. Most of them don’t get their life right because they didn’t get their teenage right. So, let’s not get ego involved with our children. Rather, let’s win their confidence and become their confidante. We need to invest quality time with our children. The family values have to be deeply embedded in them right from childhood. Loving them unconditionally makes us feel liberated. Ideally, a child should be able to happily state, “My parents are my best friends!”

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting